Posts tagged “suan pan zi”

I love suan pan zi 算盘子, a 客家 Hakka speciality which is enjoyed in many parts of the larger Chinese diaspora where the khek community resides. Often doubt as “Chinese gnocchi”, suan pan zi are fashioned out of taro while the Italian counterpart from potatoes. The similarities in their making are uncanny which leaves one to wonder if the myth of Marco Polo the famed Venetian traveller to the Far East bringing the art of Chinese noodle making back to Italy giving rise to modern day pasta, extends to suan pan zi evolving into gnocchi as well. I am no food historian so whether there are any possible links that may exist between the two, we may never know. But what I do know is, I can bring these two seemingly similar yet otherwise diverse dishes together again to reprise the “Chinese Gnocchi” or as I like to think as, the “Italian Suan Pan Zi“… (more…)